FYI from BSF, 02.19.21

Some things we have read through recently...

All Education is Local

What is the sum of one set of guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 13,506 school districts, 34,576 private schools, and 7,193 charter public schools?

Differences.

Last week was a rare one in that federal action drove educational policy and debate; more often schools, and the politics of schools, are a local matter.  

On the heels of declaring reopening schools as one day per week (which was rounded up to five), the CDC rolled out new guidelines for school buildings.  The CDC’s long form.  The CDC’s short form.  The best summary of the guidelines and implications.  Like most things these days, the guidance and its rollout had its fans and its critics.

Some elements received more attention than others.  Without a CDC requirement, vaccination of teachers is happening in different rates and paces around the country.  There are questions about the costs and efficacy of testing.  Buses, one of the big bottlenecks in getting kids to return to school, are a big deal. Community transmission really matters; there is research on this already, but the simple fact remains that if vaccinations and a lack of compliance are too slow to bend the curve, schools can’t reopen fully.  90% of kids today are in a high transmission community.

For all the detail and media coverage, a more simple question remains: how much of this actually matters?

President Biden, at his televised town hall on Tuesday, received four rapid fire questions on school reopening from Wisconsinians; Vice President Harris did a follow-up on the Today Show.  In his answers, the President was very explicit - he clearly stated a goal of reopening K-8 schools, but opening schools was not up to him, these were “recommendations” for states and school districts.  

To a degree, this is fair.  America has a history and culture of decentralization of schools.  Resources and safety are too variable to create a unified plan or instructions.  These differences vary not just between community to community, but within communities themselves.

Here is a map of California that shows the number of private schools open where public school buildings are closed. 

Closer to home.  When was the most recent BPS building construction?  2018.  Among the oldest?  1901.

What is the smallest BPS enrollment?  27.  Largest?  2,483.

But COVID-19 has another, potentially deeper limitation of how we choose to do school: the inability to personalize for students and families.  

There is no consensus on reopening school buildings across the country, or in individual school buildings.  Children, families, and educators have different individual needs and preferences; the batch model of most schools - cohorts, bells, schedules, collective bargaining agreements - used to sand those edges.

No more.  

A Morning Consult poll from this week had an arresting finding - whom do people trust most in reopening schools?  Parents.

Parents of course want different things.  Some want their kids in school buildings.  Others don’t at all.  There is extensive literature and stories that Black and Latino families are more likely to want their children to remain remote - and finding creative ways to solve for child care.  And even though almost every poll says hybrid is the least desirable option, we are sure it is working for someone out there.

The manner in which many adults live their lives now is highly personalized.  The apps on your smartphone.  The ads served to you by an algorithm.  Clicking through filters to find the exact thing you are looking for.  Not having to wait for your coffee (or your vaccine, maybe).  

But not for families in schools and school districts.  The average person trusts families the most, but families’ preferences or needs are not often at the center of decision-making.

There is no reason to assume that reopening school buildings will happen in some uniform way; in fact, that ship has sailed, with hundreds of thousands of kids in Massachusetts in open school buildings every day already.

But families and students increasingly will expect their individual needs to be met.

That, not reopening a building, is a tall task.

Reopening in Boston, MA, and Beyond

Local news is ramping up a bit as many cities and towns, including Boston, are looking to reopen buildings this spring.

The push to move teachers up in the vaccination line received some powerful allies, but that was followed by Thursday’s opening of vaccines to 65 year-olds.  

But teacher vaccinations do not equate to school buildings being open, except in cities like Everett.  In Boston and in other cities, students are in classrooms but Zooming to teachers at home.  Concerns are being raised in Lowell, and almost no Amherst teachers are willing to be in classrooms.  At the same time, towns like Andover are ramping up.  

You can’t escape politics in this section.  An additional research study asserts that local partisanship is the driving factor in school reopening.

MCAS seems to be still moving forward this spring, although some education advocates don’t think common assessments should be used this year.

Despite all the disruptions, Massachusetts earned what seems to be the annual award for being most educated.

Other Matters

After the announcement of many powerful groups coalescing around early education, advocates have started a campaign to have early education publicly funded.
It is possible for good schools to serve more students and stay good (and even get a little better).Reminder to sign up for the town hall for Boston Families Building Boston Schools.